Elon Musk's space-sweeping Tesla Roadster and its Starman pilot may be on a collision course with Earth, experts say.

The SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, which was launched last February, is now racing through space with its dummy payload and "driver" beyond the orbit of Mars.

However, it is said that there is a "significant possibility" that could topple Venus or Earth.

In a joint research paper entitled "Randomly Going Cars and Their Collision Probabilities with Planets," scientists predict Starman's journey over the next million years.

They find that Earth, Venus and Sun are the three most likely accident targets, the Daily Express reported.

Experts might say that Starman is about to crash into the ground (Image: Getty)

Continue reading

Collisions with Mercury and Mars are the most likely outcome. This also applies to the gravity of Jupiter, which catapults the vehicle out of the solar system.

However, there is still no need to panic as if it happened, it will not take another million years.

Orbital dynamics expert Professor Hanno Rein said, "Although we can not say on which planet the car will ultimately land, we can say that it will not survive in space for more than a few million years."

The Boffins said that Starman, brainchild of billionaire entrepreneur Musk, will be closest to Earth in the first 100 years of its launch. To get an idea of ​​the distance, it was as close as the moon.

Elon Musk is pictured next to a Tesla Roadster 2 (Image: REUTERS)

Starman is currently in orbit on Mars (Image: Getty)

Continue reading

The study states: "With an ensemble of several hundred realizations, we were able to statistically determine the probability that Tesla would collide with astronomical timescales with the planets of the solar system.

"Although some of the orbits are impacted by mean motion and secular resonances that cross the NEA space, orbit development initially remains dominated by close encounters with Earth's planets, particularly the Earth, Venus, and Mars."

Last year, Musk's SpaceX spacecraft wrote history when it launched a 200-meter mega-rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Aboard the rocket was a payload carrying a cherry-red Tesla Roadster that blew up David Bowie's "Life on Mars" from his stereo.

In addition to the Roadster, with the Musk (47) went to work, is also a mini-Hot Wheels version of the Tesla sports car with its own miniature Starman on board. It seems to be fixed in the middle of the dashboard of the car.

So far, SpaceX has experienced 49 successful rocket launches, recaptured 21 initial stages, and flown six of them since its founding in 2002.